Hey all-- anyone here remember me? :) It's been awhile since I last post.

Anyway, I took this picture in Petite Jean State Park in Arkansas, not so far from Hot Springs. There were a ton of raptors there, and I attempted a couple of shots although typically when I try and take a bird in flight it usually comes up as a blurred shadow. I was fairly pleased when this came out... I was also really surprised to see that this bird had a red head. Anyone have any idea what kind of bird this was?

The first shot is a zoom and crop of the second shot. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

Hey all-- anyone here remember me? :) It's been awhile since I last post.

Anyway, I took this picture in Petite Jean State Park in Arkansas, not so far from Hot Springs. There were a ton of raptors there, and I attempted a couple of shots although typically when I try and take a bird in flight it usually comes up as a blurred shadow. I was fairly pleased when this came out... I was also really surprised to see that this bird had a red head. Anyone have any idea what kind of bird this was?

The first shot is a zoom and crop of the second shot. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

Hi CaraRose, I think it's a turkey vulture. We have a ton of them here in the south. Nice shot! :) You can read about them here:

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i3250id.html

from what i know i think a tirky vulture is not a bird of prey, it deads dead stuff

Hey all-- anyone here remember me? :) It's been awhile since I last post.

Anyway, I took this picture in Petite Jean State Park in Arkansas, not so far from Hot Springs. There were a ton of raptors there, and I attempted a couple of shots although typically when I try and take a bird in flight it usually comes up as a blurred shadow. I was fairly pleased when this came out... I was also really surprised to see that this bird had a red head. Anyone have any idea what kind of bird this was?

The first shot is a zoom and crop of the second shot. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

It's a Turkey Vulture for sure. <a href="http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?sort=1&curGroupID=99&display=1&area=99&searchText=turkey+vulture&curPageNum=1&recnum=BD0002">Here's a link.</a>
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Vulture or not, they have a nice graceful flight and I've tried to photograph them many times. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome Back . .
I would say the quality of the image is not very good, however you did catch this bird in a nice wings up instant which brings interest to the shot. Was this shot with a point and shoot digital?

Welcome Back . .
I would say the quality of the image is not very good, however you did catch this bird in a nice wings up instant which brings interest to the shot. Was this shot with a point and shoot digital?

Thanks to everyone who replied and gave me the info on Turkey Vultures :). We're a bit lacking of them in the city of Chicago (although we have some nice peregrin falcolns in the city).

I took it with a minolta maxxum SLR-- I'm pretty sure it was with my 7000, and a 70-300mm zoom. The print quality is much better than the digital here, my scanner is old and I'm about ready to kick it through the nearest window.